VG10

[00max00]

What happened to VG10 steel recently. Amazon gets flooded with cheap kitchen knives made from it. It seems suddenly fall from once "super steel" to commodity. Any thought? Should Spyderco upgrade its base steel for Seki knives to a more "exotic" offering?

[The Deacon]

Or perhaps those knives on Amazon are not really VG-10. Lots of good stuff on Amazon. Lots of questionable Chinese garbage that isn't what it claims to be too.

[zeroed4x]

Vg-10 was at one time, the king of the VG series of stainless offered by Takefu from Japan. I like VG-10, it is a great performing knife steel and always will be. There have been improvements in blade quality steel over the last two decades. Takefu now offers Super G1 and Super G2 which are claimed as far superior "powdered stainless" steels than those steels previously offered. With this new better performing steel, there is most likely a new higher price. Price sometimes makes it cost prohibitive with regards to a mass produced knife. I'm glad that Spyderco seems to offer a good mix of products at various price and quality levels. There's something for everyone. I buy many of them regardless, even if I like the steel or not, sometimes I have preferences over what is offered but, I'm on that double edged sword of what is offered versus what I can accept. I hope that Spyderco continues to use VG-10, I do have a deep appreciation for that type of stainless.

[Evil D]

We all enjoy exclusivity, and having fancy named steels that aren't common is fun and exciting but there's nothing wrong with VG10. It's a great all around steel. It's also a great steel for kitchen knives, and as Paul pointed out I'm betting those knives you see on Amazon are fakes, because there are some super nice kitchen knives being made in VG10 so that gives "them" something to counterfeit.

[Bodog]

I've seen some really cheap knives with AEBL and I've seen some really expensive knives with AEBL. Same with VG10. I don't think the Japanese steel producers are coming out with a whole lot of different steels like US and European foundries are so I think the choices are limited. That and I think with a basic traditional culture like cutlery in a country like Japan, if it's not broken, don't fix it.

[dreadpirate]

VG10 is awesome. I have many VG10 knives, and will probably buy more.

[Jazz]

I love VG 10.

[00max00]

Or perhaps those knives on Amazon are not really VG-10. Lots of good stuff on Amazon. Lots of questionable Chinese garbage that isn't what it claims to be too.

This is worrisome as "VG10" is stamped right in the blades, and there's no way to tell if you are getting a real deal or a knockoff. Isn't Amazon held responsible if they were selling fakes? Almost all of them are made in China, but reviews are quite good in general comparable to Japanese made at a fraction of the costs. Knives from China usually are always in some forms of xCrxxMov. This gets me wondering the reason behind the sudden outflux of VG10. Perhaps the foundry is clearing out old stocks to make room for a new "standard" steel? Is it silly I feel bad somehow can't show off my collection of Spydercos for having a better steel? :o

[SG89]

My Shun is vg10 and its awesome and so are some of my spydies.

[Sharp Guy]

This is worrisome as "VG10" is stamped right in the blades, and there's no way to tell if you are getting a real deal or a knockoff.

I'm not sure about the the knife being a fake model overall but there is a way to tell if the steel is actually VG-10 or not. When VG-10 is polished smooth it has kind of an orange peel look to it. It's more obvious on some knives but once you know what to look for it's easy to spot.

Is it silly I feel bad somehow can't show off my collection of Spydercos for having a better steel? :o

Yes! There's nothing wrong with VG-10

[Bill1170]

This is worrisome as "VG10" is stamped right in the blades, and there's no way to tell if you are getting a real deal or a knockoff.

I'm not sure about the the knife being a fake model overall but there is a way to tell if the steel is actually VG-10 or not. When VG-10 is polished smooth it has kind of an orange peel look to it. It's more obvious on some knives but once you know what to look for it's easy to spot.

Is it silly I feel bad somehow can't show off my collection of Spydercos for having a better steel? :o

Yes! There's nothing wrong with VG-10

I know what you mean about the look of VG-10. I'd describe it as a very subtle waviness of color in the polished steel. No other steel I've seen looks quite like it.

Also, to the OP's point, I was under the impression that Japan won't export VG-10 except in finished cutlery. If that's still true, the China knives are falsely labeled.

[Bloke]

i only have Spyderco VG-10.

I bought a little VG-10 Dragonfly and liked it enough to buy a big Lum, ... lovely knife!

I'll also buy a Temperance 2 before too long, because it has a VG-10 blade.

I like Very Good-10! :)

[anagarika]

Recently there're quite a number of knives made in China that are labeled VG10, for example Boker, Kizer.
If Takefu doesn't export steel, then it's likely a Chinese steel of similar compositions being used(remember previously 8Cr13MoV was labeled 440C?).

Anyone has more info other than my speculation? Also is the VG10 performance similar with Spyderco or Japanese kitchen knives (usually ran harder)?

[bpahk]

My Shun is vg10 and its awesome and so are some of my spydies.

I have a few shun paring knives in vg10 and they are really brittle and chippy. I've had to sharpen out large chips and divots many times. It feels like compared to spyderco, shun's HT runs their vg10 a lot harder, into the low or mid 60s. They make pretty blades but performance wise, lacks toughness. Also more effort to sharpen. It's amazing how the same steel will behave differently depending on heat treat.
Spyderco vg10 on the other hand is much easier to sharpen and hasn't chipped on me with the exception of the tip on a DF2. It's just such a well balanced steel if done right i can't imagine they will move away from it in the near future

[bpahk]

Recently there're quite a number of knives made in China that are labeled VG10, for example Boker, Kizer.
If Takefu doesn't export steel, then it's likely a Chinese steel of similar compositions being used(remember previously 8Cr13MoV was labeled 440C?).

Anyone has more info other than my speculation? Also is the VG10 performance similar with Spyderco or Japanese kitchen knives (usually ran harder)?

I also have a vg10 custom gyuto from Japan. It definitely feels like it was heat treated to a higher hardness. I don't have any hard data of course this is anecdotal from my one chefs knife and 2 paring knives. But I've sharpened my own blades enough that I can get some tactile feedback as to relative hardness compared with blades I have with a known hardness range

[anagarika]

Recently there're quite a number of knives made in China that are labeled VG10, for example Boker, Kizer.
If Takefu doesn't export steel, then it's likely a Chinese steel of similar compositions being used(remember previously 8Cr13MoV was labeled 440C?).

Anyone has more info other than my speculation? Also is the VG10 performance similar with Spyderco or Japanese kitchen knives (usually ran harder)?

I also have a vg10 custom gyuto from Japan. It definitely feels like it was heat treated to a higher hardness. I don't have any hard data of course this is anecdotal from my one chefs knife and 2 paring knives. But I've sharpened my own blades enough that I can get some tactile feedback as to relative hardness compared with blades I have with a known hardness range

Thank you. That is similar to what Jason B over BF mentioned. Now these Chinese made VG10 is still a mystery.

[me2]

The orange peel appearance on polished knives is not unique to VG10. It is more an indicator of polishing technique, whether good or bad depends on if you like the finish or not. It is very difficult to impossible to tell steel types apart by appearance.

[bh49]

I love many Spydercos with VG10 blades. The steel is very good for my EDC needs. We have two kitchen knives with VG10 in our block. One of them is my favorite, another is my wife's. Years ago I saw 8" chefs knife with VG10 blade in IKEA for only $30. Made in China of course. Which looks like crazy bargain until you think about unknown heat-treatment and edge geometry. Steel is only potential of the blade. Only maker would make a good blade.

[The Mastiff]

I purchased a "VG 10" Camillus made in China folder a couple of years ago. If it was real VG10 something was wrong. It in no way performed or sharpened like the dozens of real VG10 knives I own which are mostly Spyderco. I agree with Paul's statement :

Or perhaps those knives on Amazon are not really VG-10. Lots of good stuff on Amazon. Lots of questionable Chinese garbage that isn't what it claims to be too.

I'm very happy with Spyderco's use of VG10 as a premium steel and I will buy a knife in this steel if that is what it is made of. There are not many stainless steels I'll say that about. I'm not burned out on it yet and I have a lot of VG10 Spydercos.

Joe

[JD Spydo]

I purchased a "VG 10" Camillus made in China folder a couple of years ago. If it was real VG10 something was wrong. It in no way performed or sharpened like the dozens of real VG10 knives I own which are mostly Spyderco. I agree with Paul's statement :

Or perhaps those knives on Amazon are not really VG-10. Lots of good stuff on Amazon. Lots of questionable Chinese garbage that isn't what it claims to be too.

I'm very happy with Spyderco's use of VG10 as a premium steel and I will buy a knife in this steel if that is what it is made of. There are not many stainless steels I'll say that about. I'm not burned out on it yet and I have a lot of VG10 Spydercos.

I agree with Deacon and Mastiff both regarding this obvious deceptive marketing ploy :rolleyes: There's an old saying that my dear late dad used to quote all the time>> "You Get What You Pay For". So with that being said I think you can figure very quickly that not everything that glitters is gold>> knives are like any other product out there>> there are good quality units and there are counterfeits

It's like trying to differentiate between a Timex watch and a Rolex watch >> if you see a Rolex for $25 I think it's safe to conclude that you got a fake/counterfeit unit. I seriously doubt that you can get any type of quality knife sporting VG-10 blade steel for less than $50; and that's probably about as "plain Jane" of a unit as you can get and still have a decent quality blade steel.

When it comes to "true bargains" in life there are really very very few of what I call a genuine "true bargain". Most of the time you simply get what you pay for. And possibly some of those internet bargain knives might really have VG-10 steel>> but the heat treatment is more than likely lousy .

Sure we all want something for next to nothing>> but the reality of the market doesn't yield very many true bargains at all.